In this article, I will discuss the best tools you can use to search for winning products. I based my selection of the best dropshipping research tools on:

• Price
• Ease of use
• Functionalities and features

I have used several of these myself, and many others. I chose these because they serve the intended purpose—to show you winning products for dropshipping based on data. 

For starters, here is the list: 

• Dropship.IO – best overall dropshipping product research tool
• Ecomhunt – best for saturation inspection (with a FREE account)
• Sell the Trend – best for AI dropshipping
• Minea – best for researching products based on ad performance
• AutoDS – best for hand-picked products for dropshipping
• SaleHoo – best product and supplier directory
• Dropship Spy – best for social proof ads

I will also discuss how to choose the right product research tool for dropshipping. In the end, you should be able to decide which of these seven tools works best for your dropshipping business.

7 Best Dropshipping Research Tools – FREE and Paid

1. Dropship.IO – best overall dropshipping product research tool

Dropship.IO is a spy tool for stores on the Shopify platform. It allows you to see what other dropshippers do in their stores and what products they sell. In addition, the tool also has the power to show sales data like units sold, revenue, and other important e-commerce metrics.

Features of Dropship.IO

• Product Database – this tool allows you to search products based on keywords and filters. You can see how many units a product sold, how much per piece, and what the overall revenue is. As such, you can make a decision on product selection based on data. 
• Ad Spot – if you are looking for successful Facebook ads, the Ad Spot tool is your best companion. You can search for ads using keywords and narrow your search based on comments, likes, etc. The Ad Sot tool makes it possible to find competitors, and their ads, and see how these ads are performing. You can then create ads similar to theirs.  
• Competitor Research – you can type keywords or store names to see a list of websites selling the same product as yours. From here, you can save them and track them. You can view their sales the previous day, week, month, and year. It is also possible to see what apps they use in their Shopify stores. 

Pros of Dropship.IO

• It is so easy to use
• You can track competitors and their sales
• You can view products and how they perform over time

Cons of Dropship.IO

• Currently covers only stores on the Shopify platform

Dropship.IO Pricing 

• Basic – $29 monthly; you get access to almost all features 
• Standard – $49 monthly; you get unlimited searches for spying
• Premium – $79 monthly; you get full access to the Top Stores and Top products databases

Summary: Dropship.IO has everything you need to spy on competitors, find winning products, and see what others are doing to succeed.  

2. Ecomhunt – best for saturation inspection (with a FREE account)

Ecomhunt is one of the earliest dropshipping product research tools. It curates products and sorts them based on sales. It also tells you the capital cost of the product, its ideal market price, and the profit you can potentially earn. 

Features of Ecomhunt

• Saturation Inspector – for every product, you will see how many stores are selling the same thing. This information allows you to see the level of competition for that product. The fewer sellers, the better it is for you because you are the only source of that product.    
• Product Tracking – you can track products and see how they perform. The number of products you can track depends on your plan. You can track between 5 and 500 products. 
• Social – you can view existing ads of a product and videos on YouTube if there are any. All you need to do is click the FB or YouTube logo on the product pages. This feature also gives you data on the demographics you must target. 

Pros of Ecomhunt

• You can see how many stores carry the same products you want to sell
• There is a trending badge that allows you to easily spot products that are trending
• There is a team that manually curates and handpicks winning products (not artificial intelligence)

Cons of Ecomhunt

• The free account has severe limitations

Ecomhunt Pricing 

• Free – you can view a few products with a maximum of 10 live trending products. 
• Basic – $23 monthly; you can access past two years of data and have up to ten tracker sessions
• Pro – $39 monthly; get unlimited access to all the features

The company also offers a Suite Plan that costs $49 monthly. You will have unlimited access to the library plus access to a sales course.   

Summary: Use Ecomhunt if you want to focus your product research on competition count, engagement rates, and social media stats. 

3. Sell the Trend – best for AI dropshipping

Sell the Trend is a platform that allows you to choose products, view their sales, see competition stats, and also import products from suppliers to your store. It is like Spocket, but with more data on sales. Sell the Trend also has an AI that allows you to get rid of repetitive tasks. 

Features of Sell the Trend 

• Artificial Intelligence – you can build a store without manual work. They have an AI that can create stores and product pages for you. 
• Product Explorer – this is the feature you need to find winning dropshipping products. This allows you to see data on orders made for the product, product cost, selling price, profit margins, etc.  
• Importing and Automation – you can import thousands of products to your store. Once done and once an order has been placed, the system will automate the fulfillment process. In addition, you will automatically get a tracking number, which you can use to track where the product currently is during shipment. 

Pros of Sell the Trend

• There is a 7-day free trial
• The AI tool can build a store for you
• There is a competition meter like Ecomhunt

Sell the Trend Cons of

• It is more expensive than other dropshipping product research tools

Sell the Trend Pricing 

• Essential – $39.97 monthly; you can push up to 5,000 products to your dropshipping store, with a limit of three stores.
• Pro – $99.97 monthly; you can connect up to 10 stores and import unlimited products.  

Summary: I can recommend Sell the Trend if you are looking for an AI tool that will make everything easy for you. It does have powerful programs that will help you make the right business decisions—from design to product selection and advertising. 

4. Minea – best for researching products based on ad performance 

Minea is primarily an ad spy tool, not a product research tool. However, it does provide valuable insights into how a product is performing in the market.

With Minea, you can choose and launch winning products based on people’s reactions to them.  

Features of Minea

• Ad Count – the platform has a record for more than 10 million ads on different platforms. Use it to see winning products based on ad performance. 
• Filter System – you can view ads on various platforms based on certain parameters such as time, creation, comments, shares, etc.
• Ad Platforms – it is not only Facebook ads that you can investigate. You can also view ads from Snapchat, Pinterest, and TikTok. This access gives you leverage. If you want to advertise on TikTok, then you only have to investigate ads on TikTok and see how your competitors advertise. You can either do better or launch a similar ad. 

Pros of Minea

• There is a Chrome extension, making it accessible
• You can analyze ads and shops, including saturation of the market
• There is a list of winning products curated by AI

Cons of Minea

• Too expensive
• You need to upgrade to access ads on other platforms  

Minea Pricing 

• Starter – $49 monthly; you get access to Facebook ads and see influencer placement on these ads. 
• Premium – $99 monthly; on top of Facebook, you can view ads on TikTok. 
• Business –$399 monthly; you can use their creative AI that allows you to create ads. You can also research product saturation.  

Summary: Minea is an excellent companion to a product research tool. It allows you to see millions of ads. With it, you can decide what type of ads work and which ones have the highest conversion rates. If there is an ad you like, you can use the AI to create an ad for your dropshipping business.     

5. AutoDS – best for hand-picked products for dropshipping 

AutoDS is a marketplace for wholesalers and dropshippers. You can use the tool to find winning products, import them to your store, and automate fulfillment. Apart from retail or ready-made products, AutoDS also offers print-on-demand, plus a warehousing option for wholesalers. 

Features of AutoDS

• Integration – you can integrate AutoDS with Shopify, Facebook, eBay, Etsy, WooCommerce, Wix, and many more. There is a limit to the number of stores you can integrate based on your plan.  
• Product Count –AutoDS has over 500 million products that you can view. These product pages provide you an insight into the product’s demand, sales, and competition levels. The search results will also tell you how much you must pay for the product, its selling price, and your possible margins for profit. 
• Product Sourcing – the company has its own warehouse and product sourcing team. You can work with them to guarantee that the products you dropship are of high quality. Getting this feature also means that you will have reduced shipping and processing times. 

Pros of AutoDS

• It can integrate with several dropshipping platforms
• You can use filters to narrow your product search
• You can automate the entire dropshipping process 

Cons of AutoDS

• No free account

AutoDS Pricing 

• Import 200 – $9.90 monthly; you can import a maximum of 200 products  
• Starter 400 – $19.90 monthly; the import limit is 400 products, plus you get unlimited integrations.  
• Advanced 800 – $32.90 monthly; the limit is 800 products for importation; you will also get access to VIP chat and ticket support.  

Summary: AutoDS is a tool that offers many features to help you succeed in dropshipping. Its best feature is the hand-picked winning products section, as it provides you with a lot of data about products, their competition, order count, and target audiences. 

6. SaleHoo – best product and supplier directory

SaleHoo is a supplier directory. There are two services that they offer: one is access to a directory of over 2 million products, and the second one is a dropship tool that allows you to integrate SaleHoo with your store and import products from them.

Features of Salehoo

• Market Research Labs – this feature is similar to our product database. You can find products and see how they are performing. SaleHoo also shows the supplier, product cost, and potential profits. 
• Importation – you can import products from the supplier to your store in one click. Right now, SaleHoo integrates with Shopify. The product import process already includes the importation of images and product details. 
• SaleHoo Educate – there is a university in the platform where you can learn basic and advanced dropshipping techniques. This, however, comes at a cost. You will pay $47 for Shopify and $47 for Amazon (separate payment for each training). 

Pros of SaleHoo

• You have two options as regards doing product research 
• There is a research lab that gives you more data about the products you want to sell
• You can get support from community members 

Cons of SaleHoo

• Most products are from AliExpress, so there is not much product supplier diversity here. 

SaleHoo Pricing 

• Directory – you can buy the directory for $67 yearly or $127 for lifetime access. This also gives you access to the Member Forum and Market Research Labs.
• SaleHoo Dropship – the basic plan costs $27 monthly with a maximum product import of 500 products from AliExpress. The Premium Plan costs $97 monthly. This plan makes it possible to automate up to three dropshipping stores.  

Summary: SaleHoo is a dropship supplier database and integration system. You can choose to pay only for the directory to find products and suppliers or get the integration system so you can import products to your store. 

7. Dropship Spy – best for social proof ads

Dropship Spy is a leading spy tool for products, particularly in AliExpress and Amazon. Dropship Spy can help you review not only products but also social media ads associated with them. In addition, the tool also has links to suppliers for these winning products.  

Features of Dropship Spy

• Key Indicators – you can view metrics per product, including engagement scores in social media ads. The product pages also have historical sales data, which gives you a view of the product’s sales performance over the weeks and months.  
• Hot AliExpress Products – there are millions of products on AliExpress, but Dropship Spy sorts these into hot ones only. This process takes away a lot of time spent on finding winning products.    
• Amazon Trends – if you want to dropship in Amazon, you can use this feature to see what products are trending in Amazon UK, US, Germany, Frane, and many more. 

Pros of Dropship Spy

• Dropship Spy includes access to Instagram influencers you can work with
• You can use the tool to write ad copy for you  
• Data for winning products also show suppliers 

Cons of Dropship Spy

• There is not a lot of integration with other tools, but it integrates with Shopify 

Dropship Spy Pricing 

You can choose between $39 and $119, and each account grants you access to all the features. The former is monthly and the latter is an annual subscription.  

Summary: Dropship Spy is excellent in two things: product spying and social media marketing. Use it if you need a tool that can help you find winning products, their suppliers, and their related ads. It is also helpful in providing info about top influencers on Instagram for your niche.  

How to Pick a Dropshipping Research Tool

There are so many tools you a use to pick winning products for dropshipping, and not all of them are free. The free ones are often lacking in features. Below are some tips on how to choose the right product research tool. 

1. Statistics and Data

The most important feature you need to look for is sales metrics. After all, you need winning products, and the only measurement of a winning product is sales.

Here is an example of what you will see in Dropship.IO:  

Let us say you use the keyword “drone.” As you can see from the results, the top product has a monthly revenue of more than $740,000.  The sales volume is 2,469 units. We can immediately conclude that this product is a winning product.

The price for the drone is available too. It is $299.99, but this is not the capital cost. It is the dropshipper’s selling price. It means that you can sell it for a lower price if you can find the right supplier for it. 

2. Price

Price is important as it will add to your monthly dropshipping business costs. It is fair to assume that you are either using Shopify or WooCommerce, and you are likely to pay $25 or $30 per month for web hosting.

Usually, product research tools cost around $30, so look for one at this price range. In addition, it would be better if you subscribed to a tool that offers many other features. 

For example, Dropship.IO does not only offer product research but also the following: 

• Competitor research
• Tracking of stores and products
• Access to Facebook ads library
• Calculator for your return on ad spend
• Supplier database

Some tools offer stats and nothing more. It is best to pick a tool that has several functionalities that will make your dropshipping processes and activities much easier.  

3. Ease of Use 

Some dropshipping product research tools are difficult to use. The way they present data is hard to comprehend. Because of this, there is a steep learning curve for you, the user. 

Select a dropship product research tool that is intuitive, so much so that you do not even need a tutorial to learn how to use it. 

4. Use Limit

Almost all product research tools have a usage limit. For example, Drosphip.IO has a maximum of 20 searches per day at the basic plan. This is reasonable, as you do not need to do hundreds of product research in a day.

The same thing goes with product research tools that offer automation. Some of them allow integration and product import, but you have severe limitations on how many products you can import. 

One good example of a limitation is how Ecomhunt works. You need to upgrade your account to be able to see other products. Because of this, you are better off paying for another product research tool where you can see all products no matter what plan type you have.   

5. Support

Finally, pick a product research tool where you can expect adequate customer support. Companies today no longer offer phone support. It is an expensive and labor-intensive support system.

At the very least, pick a product research tool where you can find knowledgebase articles, video tutorials, chat, and email support. 

Summary: The main functionality that you need from a product research tool for dropshipping is its ability to provide sales performance data. The best tool to buy is one that shows you sales volume because sales are the only metric that can tell whether or not a product is a winner. 

FAQ: Best Dropshipping Research Tools for Winning Products

How do I research a dropshipping product?

You can do your research intuitively, like by viewing trends in social media, or by using special tools that gather and aggregate data. One example is our product research tool. 

What is the best way to find dropshipping products?

The best way to find dropshipping products is by using tools like SaleHoo where you will have access to a product and supplier directory. The other options above are also excellent choices. 

What dropshipping product is most successful?

There is no data about this, as there are millions of products you can dropship. If you want a high profit, you can read our guide on the best profitable niches.   

Does AutoDS have product research?

Yes, AutoDS has a product research tool. You can compare products against each other, and there are over 8 million products you can choose from. 

Summary

The next step now is to sign up for our 7-day free trial offer. Access our product database and see for yourself how Dropship.IO can help you find winning products for your dropshipping store.

The free trial account gives you access to all the tools, including Ad Spot, our ad spy tool!